I'll Take Your Pain Away
by IsshiNene
Summary: "Of course I'd be concerned. You got hurt."


**AN:** Enjoy!

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 **I'll Take Your Pain Away**

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It took about 15 minutes for Isshiki to realize that Nene wasn't coming to lunch. _She's never late._ He waited for her at their usual location: the library, but it was almost halfway through the lunch period and still no sign of the green haired girl. Staring at his phone, he anticipated a text back from her by now; maybe an apology for being late or a heads up that something else came up… but _nothing_. Isshiki frowned, getting up from the wall he was leaning against. _She was suppose to make me lunch today too._

Settling on the off chance that she forgot they were having lunch together, Isshiki headed towards the kitchen classrooms, specifically the Advanced Mediterranean Cuisine classroom which he knew was her fourth period. The halls of the third year class building were pretty much empty. Their class size had been cut significantly from the promotional exam, meaning very few, including him, actually chose to eat inside. Finding her class number, he peered inside the room, observing stainless steel sinks, polished counters and knife racks. But no Nene.

"Isshiki, do you need anything?" Queried the teacher in the back. The middle aged women with brown long hair and European face had been conducting inventory of the pots and pans when Isshiki arrived.

"Ah, sorry to bother you, Chontos-sensei. Do you know where Kinokuni-san is?" He smiled.

The woman stopped her notes and looked up, "Oh, Kinokuni went to the infirmary. She got into an accident during class."

"What happened! Is she alright?" Isshiki exclaimed, unable to hide his shock and concern.

The teacher sighed, closing her eyes like the event was a nightmare she didn't want to remember, making Isshiki more concerned as the silence grew. "I'm not sure how she is now, but it was pretty bad in class. A student ran into Kinokuni and spilled boiling water on her. Her torso and legs were burned." The woman stated glumly. "If you see her, can you tell her I-" She opened her eyes but it was too late, Isshiki was already bolting towards the infirmary.

* * *

"Kinokuni-" Isshiki yelled out of breath while he slammed open the infirmary door. However, all intensity was lost as he froze in the middle of the doorway. Nene was sitting upright on the edge of the bed with her back towards the door, her _bare_ back. From what Isshiki could tell within that split second was that her soaked uniform, now hanging on the back of a chair was replaced with a robe covering her lower half and a wrap of bandage that spanned the entirely of her right leg. The school nurse at her side, just now beginning to wrap her naked torso.

Nene turned her head towards the sudden intruder. It took her a second to focus her eyes on the man without her glasses, but when she finally saw his flushed face, she suddenly became very aware of her undressed state.

"G-...Ge-, GET OUT!" She screamed, cuing him to frantically fumble turning the handle of the door and rushed out of the room.

Once in the safety of the hall, Isshiki leaned against the smooth walls, covering his blushing face and panting, still winded from his earlier run. Once he calmed down, he slid down the wall into a squat, resting his arms on his knees and hung his head. With all modesty and embarrassment aside, what Isshiki could clearly see within those few seconds were the extent of Nene's back burns. Her entire back was pink, with splotchy red patches from where he assumed the water made the most contact. It wasn't so serious that she had to go to the hospital, but bad enough that he could tell where the blisters were beginning to form. Not to mention, be didn't even get to see the condition of her leg.

 _Please be okay_ , was all he could repeat in his head. His mind so preoccupied with concerns and thoughts of his girlfriend, that he failed to hear the bell that signaled the end of lunch, not that it mattered, he wasn't going anywhere. It wasn't until the sound of the infirmary door opening that he lifted his head to see the nurse nod her head, inviting him in.

Upon entering, he noticed a large blue curtain drawn around the bed, obscuring any sight of her. He took a seat besides the bed, resting most of his weight on his knees with straight arms.

"Are you alright?" He asked quietly, He heard the vinyl covering of the bed squeak a bit at her shifting.

"Why are you here? Don't you have classes?" She replied.

"That wasn't my question."

"You really don't need to be her-"

"Are you alright?!" He pressed, voice dripping in worry as her interrupted her.

She paused before sighing, "Yes, I'm fine."

"Are you in pain? Does it hurt?" His voice softened.

"A little bit." She confessed. "The nurse gave me some painkillers so it should go away soon."

She couldn't see him, but she could only imagine him slowly nodding his head in acknowledgement to her answer. The two sat in silence for awhile, unsure of how to carry the conversation.

"What happened?" She heard him mumble.

She laughed a bit at his tone. "There's no need to be so concerned. It really wasn't anything that serious." She teased.

"Of course I'd be concerned. You got hurt." He breathed. Her face blushed slightly at the comment, glad that the curtain could hide more than just her burns.

"Anyways," she continued, "Some group thought it would be a bright idea to let the girl who lost her contacts that day handle straining the pasta. She ran into my back."

"Hm." Isshiki replied, unsure of what to do to help Nene.

Again, the quiet returned.

Nene was lying down on her front, her head resting on her arms with a light blanket covering her body. Conceding to the fact that Isshiki wasn't going to leave, she sighed. Although she tried her best to assure him that she was fine; putting on a face that showed she didn't need him there, a part of her didn't want him to leave. She found his presence comforting and distracting from the intense throbs of her scalded body.

"Isshiki?" She asked, wondering if he was still there.

"Yes?" He replied immediately.

"...You didn't get to eat lunch, did you?" Nene shyly commented.

"Ah, yeah- I guess."

"If you're still hungry, your bento is by my bag on the desk."

She could hear the scoot of the chair on the tile floor as Isshiki got up. "The blue or black box?"

"The black one." She said. "The egg rolls in that one are sweeter." He smiled at her comment. _You remembered how I like my eggs._ "You can have mine too, I'm not hungry."

He sat down on the wooden chair and placed the box on the small bedside table. He grabbed his chopsticks and bowed slightly.

"Itadakimasu."

* * *

When he finished eating, he could hear small, steady breathing from behind the curtain. "Kinokuni-kun?" He whispered. _No response._ "Nene-chan?" He repeated. _Nothing._

Seeing that the nurse had left the room, leaving him in charge if anything happens, he slowly got up from the chair and gently slid the curtain back to see her face. Her eyes, normally so sharp were closed with her eyelashes delicately resting on her cheekbones. Her right cheek, slightly pressed against her forearm and her lips parted. Nene's green bangs were matted against her forehead while her hair splayed across the pillow. He could breathe a little better seeing her face again.

He was with her, and she was _safe_.

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 **AN:** Fluff...fluff. I'm honestly quite surprised that all I write for this couple is fluff. Like believe it or not, I'm a heavy angst reader, and I really want to write a heart-wrenching, painful fic for this couple (Shoutout to _running away from love (and other fantasies)_ by pepperpepperoni for fulfilling my Isshinene genre!), but I just...can't. Like I can't put them in that situation! But maybe in the future if you're into that stuff XD

Thanks for reading! If you have any requests/comments, please feel free to leave it in a review!


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